CAMRA

It's funny how your opinion of certain alcoholic drinks can change over the years. When I first started going to the pub, the only pint I would have would be lager. I couldn't stand any real ales or Guinness. Now it's almost the other way around. I can still drink lager but I'd much prefer a pint of real ale.
Lager is really just a bland fizzy drink designed for one purpose only which is to get you drunk. This applies especially to most of the mass produced cooking lagers such as Tennants or Budweiser. I like to steer clear of these as there is no fun in drinking them. You could actually drink a pint of fizzy piss and not be able to tell the difference.
My drink of choice at the moment is real ale. There is nothing I like better than going into a pub which has a selection of different ales on tap. The Cask & Barrel pub in Edinburgh is a good example of this. It usually has 10 different ales, 6 that are on permanently and 4 guests that can change on a weekly basis. I can spend the night drinking in these places and not have the same drink twice. This isn't always a good thing though as some of the ales can be quite strong, I've had a couple of rough morning afters.
I've even got into Guinness quite a lot recently. At first I didn't like it, then I could have one or two pints but would have to stop there. Now I can drink it all night, especially if there isn't much selection in the pub. Pretty much every pub has Guinness so it's always a good fall back option.
Perhaps your tastes change as you get older. Now I want my pint to be smooth rather than fizzy and to taste of something rather than just being bland.

A Calvinist Narrowly Avoids Pleasure

A couple of recommendations for you.

Book
Black Swan Green - David Mitchell
The latest novel from David Mitchell and it's very good. It's probably his most straightforward novel yet, focusing on 13 year old Jason Taylor growing up in a small town in England. It covers his discovery of girls, his writing of poetry, bullying, family problems, the Falklands and his stuttering over the space of a year and it is very well written. You are transported back to your own early teenage years and can easily picture what life was like for Jason. Apparently it's semi-autobiographical which may account for this. Black Swan Green is Mitchell's fourth book and he is one of my favourite writers.

Music
Ballad of the Book - Various
This is a collaboration between Scottish writers and musicians. Various Scottish writers including some famous ones such as Ian Rankin have written song lyrics and passed them onto Scottish musicians. They have then written music to go with the lyrics and recorded the songs for the album. It's a very good way to showcase new and existing talent in Scotland, I hadn't even heard of some of the artists so it was a good introduction. Song lyrics are a form of writing/poetry so the collaboration works well, it's a surprise that this kind of album doesn't happen more often. As you can probably guess some of the lyrics are very good and my personal favourite is The Rebel On His Own Tonight which is by Malcolm Middleton & Alan Bissett. There are some great random rhyming such as "you are steaming, you are Stephen King" or "nights at the Manique, dancing to Britney, wishing your home town wisnae so shitty". There isn't really a weak track on the album, all of them work well.

Sorrow

What is it with Hibs and the Scottish Cup? I think I am destined never to see us break the hoodoo and actually win the trophy.
That is now 3 years in a row where we have been beaten in the semi final. In fact since I have been going regularly to watch Hibs, we have been in 5 Scottish Cup semi finals and only won 1. That is a shocking record especially considering we were favourites for 3 of the games we lost in. It's almost as if the team just bottle it as soon as they get close to winning the trophy.
Last night was representative of this. We were playing Dunfermline who are bottom of the league although they have picked up some form recently. However this was a game Hibs should still be able to win. Unfortunately in 180 minutes of football we could not score and from that point of view we didn't deserve to win. In the replay Hibs were on top for most of the game and created most of the chances but we just couldn't put the ball in the net. Dunfermline then scored a late penalty and there was no coming back.
It's just not good enough. I'm tired of thinking that this year we may have a chance only for the team to blow it. It might even be easier to get knocked out in the earlier rounds so that the hope doesn't build up. It's almost as if Hibs are just teasing the fans, lifting up their skirt to give us all a glimpse of what we are desperate to have before rejecting us.
I suspect there is going to be a clear out at Easter Road in the summer and it could be a very different team that lines up at the start of the new season. Let's hope JC has realised we need a striker who can score goals in the box. We can play great football outside the box but too many times our strikers are out there joining in when they should be waiting in the penalty area. There was so many times last night when the ball was free in the box but there was no Hibs player following up. A player of this type is a priority for the new season.

The Ducket

It's not often you get to see a team win the league especially after winning a championship decider. I saw Hibs win the First Division a few years ago but we were about 20 points clear so that was fairly inevitable. However on Saturday I got to see a proper decider when I went to Shielfield Park to see Berwick Rangers take on Arbroath. If Berwick won the game they won the league but if Arbroath won then they would be 1 point ahead going into the last game. Thankfully Berwick held their nerve and clinched a 1-0 win. It was a really bad game of football with only one good move in 90 minutes but I was glad I went as it was an enjoyable afternoon. You get to see guys playing for the love of the game, there are no ego problems or complaints about wages which has become a problem at the higher levels. There was also a good atmosphere at the ground which can probably best be described as ramshackle but at least it has character. Normally Berwick only get a few hundred watching games which isn't good for the club finances but there was just over 2000 fans on Saturday, probably the best attendance there has been for a while. The fans did well at supporting the team with a group of them singing for the full game. That isn't something you see at SPL games very often. The fans probably deserved their day of success, it's only the second time in Berwick's history that they have won a trophy.
They even had a mascot out doing the rounds before the game, it's certainly the first time I've ever hi-fived a guy in a lion suit....

Toddler Club

Do you think these women had watched Fight Club one too many times?

These Boots Were Made For Scoring

About a year ago I decide to hang up my football boots. I wasn't really enjoying playing anymore and I kept picking up niggling injuries which were restricting my involvement. Since then I haven't kicked a ball and I've only been involved as a spectator.
However last night there was a comeback. I played in a 5-a-side game with guys from work and I really enjoyed it. I'd forgotten just how good it was to be out on the pitch passing the ball about and scoring goals. I was a bit rusty at first but I soon rediscovered my touch and was banging the goals in and trying fancy flicks (most of which weren't coming off but it was fun to try). Hopefully I'll start playing again regularly and if I do pick up injuries I may be able to treat myself!
The only down side to the football is the pain I am in today. I've been trying to keep fit through running and cycling but you use different muscles in football and they are all aching. Even my shoulders are sore which I don't really understand. It was worth it though.

The Strange Crimson Wasp Chronicle

Those of you that know me are aware that I enjoy reading and have a great number of books in my flat. Therefore I was quite pleased when I saw that Waterstone's are celebrating their 25 year anniversary by naming their top 100 books of the last 25 years. I got the booklet they produced which lists the top 100 and it turns out I have read 54 which I thought was quite good going. Of the 46 that are left they are mainly books I have no interest in reading or I started reading and didn't like so gave up. There are a few that I would like to read though so I think the corresponding 3 for 2 offer could come in handy.

Waterstone's are also using this list to try and find the nation's favourite book from this top 100. People are meant to vote for their top read and after a lot of thinking I decided that I just can't choose one book. There isn't one book that I can hand on heart say I thought was better or that I enjoyed more than all the others. Therefore I won't be voting but I did think it would be good to list my top 10 from the Waterstone's list for my blog readers.
The list is in alphabetical order and the only rule was that the same author couldn't appear twice. I really enjoyed reading these 10 books and they are very recommended if you haven't read them.

Iain Banks - The Wasp Factory
Michael Chabon - The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
Susannah Clarke - Jonathon Strange & Mr Norrell
James Ellroy - LA Confidential
Michael Faber - The Crimson Petal & The White
John Irving - A Prayer For Owen Meany
David Mitchell - Cloud Atlas
Haruki Murakami - The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
Philip Pullman - Northern Lights:His Dark Materials
Donna Tartt - The Secret History

Double Helping

What were the SFA thinking when they decided that a draw after 90 minutes in the Scottish Cup Semi Final would go to a replay? The English FA realise it's stupid having a replay so what's the problem with their Scottish counterparts?
Rather than going to extra time and then penalties to decide a winner on the day, I now have to go back to Hampden a week on Tuesday to watch a replay. The crowd for yesterday's snooze fest of a 0-0 was 25,000 which is less than half the capacity of the stadium. Bearing in mind ticket prices were between £22 to £25 with travel cost and beer money on top of that, how many of these fans will be willing to repeat it on a Tuesday night? I'd be surprised if the crowd is more than 15,000 which means there will be a very poor atmosphere.
If it has to be a replay it would make more sense to either have it at the weekend so that more fans can go or have it at another ground, perhaps somewhere like Tynecastle which is easier for both sets of fans to get to and there is more chance of a sell out.
Of course Hibs are partly to blame for this. If they hadn't played so badly or actually looked like scoring then we may have won the game and there would be no need for a replay. As it is, the Hibs fans have to fork out yet again to follow the team. This after a week where the prima donna players have complained that they are getting worked too hard in training. They should try being a fan for a change.
I'm actually tempted not to go in a no doubt ineffectual one man protest against the SFA's lack of common sense and the Hibs players lack of respect for the fans. However it's more than likely that I will go. It's is the Scottish Cup Semi Final after all, we are only one game away from the Final which means European qualification and Hibs being one step closer to breaking our hoodoo. Let's just hope there is a big improvement in the performance next week.

MSP

The run up to the Scottish elections has started in earnest. The media is full of politicians trying to drum up votes in order to secure seats in Holyrood. In the past this would have bored me but I'm actually finding myself interested this time. Perhaps I'm becoming more politically aware or perhaps the Scottish elections seem to impact more on me than the UK elections. Whatever the reason I am actually following the coverage rather than trying to ignore it.
It will be interesting to see if Labour can maintain their position as the majority party in Scotland or whether the SNP can secure enough votes to take their place. All the opinion polls are suggesting the SNP will end up with most seats although not enough to form a majority on their own. However opinion polls aren't always the most reliable in these matters. Yuo just have to look at Neil Kinnock's last election as Labour leader to see that.
From my own point of view, I think it will be very beneficial for the Scottish Parliament to be run by a party other than Labour. I don't want this to sound like I am against Labour or pro SNP/Lib Dems (we can effectively rule out the Conservatives from the race). I do feel that the Parliament hasn't been as effective as it should have been due to the fact that Labour are the majority party in Scotland and the UK in general. Even though there has been some individual Scottish policies put through such as the smoking ban, it seems that Scottish Labour will only do what Westminster tells them to do or allows them to do. They are at the end of a very short leash and for the Scottish Parliament to be effective it needs to have more freedom to make decisions for Scotland, not for the UK as a whole.
The individual campaigns have also been very interesting especially for Labour. For the ruling party, their style is very negative and there seems to be very little faith placed in Jack McConnell the First Minister. The initial campaign seemed to be based around the fact that if you don't vote Labour then the SNP will get in and the Union will break up. I appreciate that in politics there are often negative campaigns with digs at other parties but I'd far rather hear what Labour are actually planning on doing instead of casting up worst case scenarios. McConnell has seemed marginalised in the campaign with the Westminster heavyweights Brown and Blair being very visible in Scotland for a change. It's almost like the two of them forget they are Scottish until it's time for the Scottish elections. McConnell has only now started to show his face after turning down numerous debating opportunities with the other party leaders. It's almost as if Labour/McConnell are running scared. The Iraq situation seems to have had a big impact on Labour support so perhaps having Blair up here isn't really helping their campaign.
At least the other parties are focusing on what they plan to do if they are in power. This may partly be due to the fact that most of them have little chance of being in power therefore have little to lose but at least it's positive. However there is a chance that one of these parties (probably the Lib Dems) will be involved in a coalition for power so they may well have an impact.
We will see what happens on May 3rd but it could end up being the start of a new era for Scotland if the opinion polls are right.

Dummy

Typical Hibs. It's only been 3 weeks since we won the CIS cup and you would think the club and fans would still be on a high. However all that has been forgotten as there are a few players who are unhappy with the management style of John Collins and have complained to the Chairman.
I have to confess, I don't understand what the problem is here. The players in questions (who haven't been named but there is plenty of speculation) seem to be guilty of throwing their toys out of the pram. The issues seem to centre around Collins trying to install discipline and fitness in the side along with his manner which has been described as aloof. Isn't this the job of the manager?! He isn't there to be their best friend.
I have a lot of respect for the job that Tony Mowbray did as the Hibs manager before Collins. However Mowbray himself admitted he felt he had taken the team as far as he could. Mowbray's style was to be friendly with the players and a lack of discipline that arose form that. You could argue this is what had held the Hibs team back. Collins has sought to remedy this and you can see that this has been working from the fact we won our first trophy in 16 years under him. I don't understand why the players have chosen now to kick up a fuss. All the fans are behind Collins and his methods as they have proved to be successful. This weekend we have the Scottish Cup semi final against Dunfermline which gives us a great chance to get to another final. Potentially we then have an opportunity to break the worst hoodoo in Scottish football, the fact Hibs haven't won the Scottish Cup since 1902. So why chose now? It must be the worst timing the players could have picked.
If I was Collins, the players in question should be shipped out at the earliest opportunity. The club don't need the negative publicity and if some players don't want to work hard and play for Hibs then they can just GTF. Hibs don't pay massive wages but ultimately the players get paid very good money to do something they love. At the moment all these players are doing is disrespecting the club and fans. All the players need to be behind the manager as his methods are what we need to move the club onto the next level. There is no point complaining that they had an easier life under Mowbray, that is not how they are going to become successful. If they want to take it easy and go out drinking all the time then they are welcome to do it at another club.
Let's hope Collins and Petrie can sort this situation out. It's a very big game on Sunday and we can't afford to go into the game with divisions in the squad. We have been beaten in the semi final of the Scottish Cup in the last two seasons, let's make sure it's third time lucky.

Long Weekend

Bank Holiday weekends just seem to fly by. It's a little bit depressing really. The run up to the Easter weekend is always exciting as it means you have Friday & Monday off work. Then before you know it, Tuesday has come around and you are back in the office. Sigh.
I didn't really have big plans for the long weekend but once it's over, you do wonder where the time went. A lot of my time was spent sitting around studying or reading. I was also trying to keep fit through running and cycling but then eating and drinking too much to negate any good I had done my body. There was fun with the car too after the back windscreen shattered for no apparent reason. Must have taken a good couple of hours to try and get all the glass cleaned up, it went everywhere.
The one thing I wanted to do was to try and make a decision on which University to go to. Unfortunately I'm no closer to making that choice. Spent a lot of time thinking about it and hoping for inspiration to strike but no joy. It's not as if I'm swaying one way or the other, I just don't know. Maybe I should buy myself a magic 8 ball.

Where To Go

I have a big decision to make now as I found out yesterday that I got a conditional place at York St John Uni for physio. The condition is that I need to achieve a B in my Biology A-Level but as I got an A for the first part them I'm hoping that this won't be an issue. I was a little surprised to receive the offer as I didn't think the interview process went that well but I'm not going to complain.
I need to decide now whether to do my physio degree in Aberdeen or York. (I've still to hear from Northumbria but the fact I've heard nothing from them so far probably rules them out). It's going to be difficult to decide as each have their own good points. York has the benefit of only being a 3 year course with all the fees being paid. It's also a very nice city and I can perhaps see myself living there. However despite it being rated as excellent for physio, I wasn't that impressed on the day visit. York is also twice the distance away from Edinburgh than Aberdeen which makes Aberdeen easier to come back home from especially for weekend visits. Aberdeen is a 4 years course which means that it will be more expensive in general. However I can perhaps get placements in Edinburgh whilst I was very impressed with the course and campus on my day visit there.
As you can see there are lots of factors that can influence my decision. I'm trying not to think about my Hibs season ticket, can't really base a decision on that although living in Aberdeen may make that easier.....
I guess I'm going to be spending most of my easter weekend trying to make that decision. Any help will be gratefully received.

Dum Dum

The BBC have recently been criticised for being too highbrow and alienating the public. It's felt that they could do with some dumbing down. I can't actually believe that this has happened, surely there is far too much dumbing down in TV in general. The BBC should be applauded for trying to maintain high standards and actually crediting viewers with a little bit of intelligence. Surely an element of TV's remit is to educate viewers not just to provide coach potato fodder.
I'm tired of the TV's schedules being filled with terrible reality shows, soaps, gardening/holiday/auction/home shows. There should be more current affairs, politics, drama, intelligent comedies. It's not as if all the BBC programmes are highbrow, bear in mind it shows Eastenders, Fame Academy and Strictly Come Dancing amongst others. These shows can be good (if you like that kind of thing) but they don't exactly stretch your thinking muscles.

In the digital age of TV, there is a scary amount of choice in channels so if you want to sit on your arse all day watching boring, vapid and unstimulating shows then feel free. Has anyone ever had their life enhanced by watching idiots on reality shows or PR run chat shows?
I would like to learn and be challenged. I'm glad that the BBC recognises that their are people out there who are like this. We don't want kids growing up as brain dead moron's who think that the point of life is to find 5 minutes of infamy on the TV. There is already a danger of that happening as a recent survey said that more teenage girls would rather be a glamour model than a nurse when they grow up.

Let's hope the BBC ignores the recent unfounded criticism and continues to make quality, intelligent programmes.

Derby Disaster

I guess you can say that it's typical Hibs. As soon as things start going well for us, it isn't long until we are brought back down to earth with a bump. After the glory of the cup win 2 weeks ago, the Hibs board made the school boy error of organising a parade of the cup after their next game. This just happened to be against our rivals Hearts. If there is one thing you can guarantee then it is that Hearts will be going all out to spoil the Hibs party and so it proved. Despite it being the most negative performance from a Hearts team (timewasting from kick off, niggly fouls, kicks off the ball) they somehow managed to scramble a late goal to win 1-0. Unsurprisingly I wasn't really in the mood for celebrating after that so didn't bother sticking around for the cup parade.
Hibs only have themselves to blame though. We should never have decided to parade the cup after the derby and the performance on the day wasn't good enough. We had lots of play and possession but everything fell apart in the final third.
We will just have to concentrate on the Scottish cup now to try and get a cup double.